Remember the movie "In the Line of Fire?". Clint Eastwood is an older but still in-shape Secret Service agent. His fictional character was John Kennedy's "favorite agent." Eastwood's character holds himself responsible for JFK's death. The movie is pretty good, with John Malkovich playing the psychopath intent on killing the president and dying in the process. Some of the takeaways include that there are competent agents, and then there are bureaucrats. Like most movie plots, it seemed far-fetched. Fiction. How could the assassin get that close to the president, even with elaborate planning? 

When Trump came within inches of dying, it didn't take long (minutes, in fact) for anyone with eyes to wonder, "How did the gunman get that close?" Within hours, the speculation and conspiracies were in overdrive, but unlike the "grassy knoll" fuzzy photos, this time, the speculation was founded in facts. Secret Service resources were diverted from the rally to protect Jill Biden. Trump's normal detail had been overworked so much that there were temporary replacements filling in. The perimeter wasn't protected. The Secret Service and the local cops knew of Crooks as a potential threat long before he was in position to take several shots. 

And on top of that, some of the agents on site were, well, they appeared to be less than impressive. Some of the agents cannot "fix" what looked less than optimal. If an agent is 5'7", she cannot grow to be 6'2". 

There are other obvious contrasts. The iconic photo of Trump raising his fist with the American flag in the background shows two agents surrounding him. The tall agent to the right (a male agent seen protecting Trump at other events) shows little emotion. Later, after Trump is in the SUV headed to the hospital, there is an agent who looks terrified. When she attempts to holster her weapon, she misses and gives up. I spoke to my son about this. He is a former SEAL, and he told me to chill. "Until you're shot at, you don't know how you'll react," and that her look may just be her "concerned" face. So I backed off. When Trump showed up at the RNC, his protection detail looked very different. All the agents protecting and surrounding him were tall and male. 

Then, the excuses started. The buck was passed so many times it was like a shell game. The bureaucrat heading the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, took no ownership. She refused to resign. The Secret Service looked like Keystone Cops under her watch, but she took no responsibility. If Cheatle was the captain of a ship, she would have been relieved of command before the hour was up. Why did she make an appearance at the RNC? Her protection detail looks pretty solid.

Ironically, Cheatle's security did a better job of protecting her from US senators than @realDonaldTrump's security did at protecting him from an assassin.#ResignNOWCheatle https://t.co/FMgesh5g7y

— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) July 18, 2024

The most absurd excuse was that the roof that Crooks was on was "sloped" and somehow that was a problem for the protection detail. Huh? Crooks got up there with a rifle and a remote detonator. The photo used for this article shows snipers on a sloped roof.

 Maybe the answer is simple: Incompetence.

Or maybe the answer complex and there was an actual "Grassy Knoll" moment. That is terrifying.